The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1887-03-19
OLD MEXICAN MINES.
A. nxnerlenced Prospector Thinks Ihcy
Ara Not 80 Rich as Reported.

| remark attributed to Sir Charies Lyon
the eminent geologist, which is that
1.-THE interior of Mexico is the ricieS'
known argentiferous section OF the
whole world" Something very SINH
| lar TO this is also said to have been
stated by Humboldt. Romanccrs OF
high and low degree have played upon
the same string, until the whole World
has come to believe that Sir Charles
Lyell's remark is true. Even among
financiers the possible wealth OF Mexico
in silver is said to be feared as II thing
which may dcmoralize all calculations
regarding silver supplies and SILVER
coinage. The very truthful s~ta'enheis
is made that Spaniaras worked ont
only the surface of the veins. ceaslngo OPP
erations when the water was reachedi
that with crude methods of mining and
smelling they produced two or three
billion ounces of silver in two hundred
wears. and from these facts they argue
that with modern methods and modern
machinery the same veins at greater
depth can be made to yield more
abundantly than ever and to flood the
world with the white metal.
The argument looks plausible, but it
Is based upon false premises. Not un-
frequently one finds the old gray
headed and erroneous statement that
as mines increase in richness with
depth, the abandoned Mexican mines
will yield more largely below the water
level than they yielded above. The
fact is, the Spanish adventures who
visited Mexico got the cream,
as those who get the ore
near the surface generally do.
Their crude methods Of mining and ore
treatment were the best possible under
the circumstances. They mined ex-
clusiyely with slave labor, the slaves
raising the corn and vegetables upon
which they subsisted. As the con-
uuered natives furnished the slaves, the
cost of mining was merely nominal,
and whatever was produced was nearly
all profit. 1t is quite apparent that
these are advantages which enabled
them to work remarkably low-gradc
ore, advantages that can not be OBJ
tanned at this day. As for the smelling
processes, an examination of their
slags showed that they understood
their business and did work of which Il
modern metallurgist would not be
ashamed.
Years ago the writer read those
stories which fire the imagination, and
is a result sought for the wondrous
wealth along the Cordil1Nra of Anahann
through the interior of Mexico, as well
as where the goldcn-roofed palm looks
out on the blue waters of the Caribbean
sea, and the rustling cocoanuts grow
on the shores of the Pacific, and he
found no evidence Of wondrous silver
wealth. Many and many an old
abandoned Spanish mine was explored
as far as practicable, and no rich ore
was found. Many a dump pile was
carefully searched for a grain, a trace
Of rich ore, and scarcely any was found
which would be called pay ore in Colo
RADIO. The conclusion was inevitable
that the general run Of the ore worked
had been low grade.
To-day nearly all the mines worked
in Mexico are lodes which were never
touched by the Spaniards. The old
mines were worked for from 500 to 800
feet in depth. and there are few of
them which give any promise Of pay
ing well enough to warrant the cree
ton Of machinery. To-day a Mexican
can build an adobe furnace and smclt
ore at from So so to $3.50 per ton, and
they do good work. By the patois pro-
cess he ear and does work orc at from
1915 to 81 per ton, saving 80 per cent.
Of its value. The old mines, whose
standing ores can be mined cheaply,
cannot furnish ores which will pay even
these prices lOr working.
There are rich mines in Mexico, n,
doubt. some of which are undiscov-
cred. but that it is "the richest known ar
gentiferous section of the whole world"
is n statement not substantiated by
well-known facts. No man must sup
pose that the Mexicans are a race Of
people who would allow such riches to
lilo idle and undeveloped. American
miners could learn something from
them. and the lessons would often be
worth a good deal of money. They
could especially learn something about
mining laws. There are never any
~vexatious and costly suits there about
apex and side lines. and the great ma
jority of failures are made by those
who undertake to use the modern ma
chinery and modern methods of mining
and milling.--Denrer Tribune.